Events

Faust Harrison Pianos together with Performers of Westchester presents:

Graffman, Frank, Simonesque, & Haimovitz
Saturday, June 1st - 7:30pm

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Seating is limited, please rsvp.

Tickets ($35) are available via http://www.performersofwestchester.org

GARY GRAFFMAN has been a major figure in the music world since his debut with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of eighteen. For the next three decades he toured almost continuously, playing the most demanding works in the piano literature.His numerous recordings with the orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago under such conductors as Bernstein, Ormandy, Szell, and Mehta include concertos by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Brahms, Chopin, and Beethoven; they are still regarded as touchstones. In 1979, however, an injury to his right hand limited Mr. Graffman's concertizing to the small body of repertoire for left hand alone. Since then seven new works have been commissioned for him, and he continues to have an active performing career.
Mr. Graffman's association with the Curtis Institute of Music began in 1936, when he was accepted, at the age of seven, to study with Isabelle Vengerova. He graduated in 1946. In 1980, following his performance-reducing injury, he joined the Curtis piano faculty.
From 1986 through May 2006, he served as director of Curtis, as well as president from 1995 to 2006.

Violinist PAMELA FRANK has established an outstanding international reputation across an unusually varied range of performing activity. She has performed with many prestigious orchestras such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras and the Israel Philharmonic to name a few. Since her early days at Marlboro Music Festival, she developed a lasting involvement with chamber music and is regularly sought after as a chamber music partner by many of today’s distinguished soloists and ensembles. The breadth of her accomplishment and her consistently high level of musicianship was recognized in 1999 with the Avery Fisher Prize. She is a member of the faculties of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and is currently also the director of the “Rising Stars” program at Caramoor in Katonah.

Romanian-born violinist ANDY SIMIONESCU is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where he completed his studies wish Szymon Goldberg. Andy's solo appearances have taken him to the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Musikverein, Tokyo's Casals Hall and throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. Recital highlights include performances at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, New York's 92nd Street Y and Alice Tully Hall. A prolific chamber musician, he is a member of the Raphael Trio and Artistic Director of The Performers of Westchester.

Cellist MATT HAIMOVITZ is one of the world's most admired and influential musical artists, acclaimed not only for his mastery of the traditional repertoire, but for his unstinting and wide-ranging advocacy of contemporary music, and his pioneering approach to concerts and performances. He has performed on the world's greatest stages with the world's greatest musicians, including Daniel Barenboim, and Charles Dutoit, Leon Fleisher, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin, Rudolph Serkin, Michael Tree, Yo-Yo Ma, Shlomo Mintz, Leonard Rose, Isaac Stern, Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman. Among his many honors are the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1986), the Grand Prix de Disque (1991), the Diapason d'Or (1991), the Premio Internazionale "Accademia Musicale Chigiana" (1999), and ASCAP's Concert Music Award (2006). With his wife, composer Luna Pearl Woolf, Mr. Haimovitz founded Oxingale Records to propagate their innovative ideas. He serves on the faculty of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montréal, where he resides.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Jasna Popovic & Elaine Kwon
Wednesday, June 19th - 7:00pm

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Seating is limited, please rsvp.

Pianist Jasna Popovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, where she received her first piano lesson at the age of six. Popovic attended the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Germany. She has won numerous awards, notably the Fourth Place at the International Competition in Rome and Second Place at the National Piano Competition in Belgrade. Popovic has performed at various festivals
throughout Europe, and, in 2005, Popovic was honoured with an invitation to perform at the International Keyboard Festival in New York. In 2006, she received the Passantino Award for Special Achievements from the City University of New York. This academic recognition was followed by a series of successful performances at Steinway Hall, Lefrack Hall, Weill Recital Hall/Stern Perlman
Auditorium at Carnegie Hall and throughot the Europe and South America. Jasna Popovic is residing in New York City.

Prize-winning pianist Elaine Kwon, has performed solo and chamber music concerts in the U.S., internationally, and has been broadcast on television and radio in the U.S., Canada, China, and Bulgaria. Kwon received standing ovations at her sold-out Carnegie Hall benefit concerts at Weill Hall (2008), and Zankel Hall (2010, 2011, 2012), as well as her solo concerto performances with the Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra, Slovak Sinfonietta, New York Chamber Virtuosi, and Union Symphony. She has been an active chamber musician with OCTET, Forecast New Music Group, Light and Sound Water Trio, and Hebert/Kwon piano duo, among others. 2013 appearances include a residency at the National Music Festival, and concerto performance with the National Music Festival Orchestra, and several concerts in Haiti, where she will perform for the President of Haiti. Elaine Kwon is an Artist's Choice recording artist and a Lecturer in Music at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Elaine holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do (five-time U.S. National Forms Champion) and currently studies Shaolin Kung Fu. She represented Nike in Asian ad campaigns, has appeared in Vogue, Elle, Women’s Health, and numerous other magazines, ads, videos, books, and is represented by Wilhelmina Models. She has been a featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, was honored as a 2008 Power Woman of New York, and was the subject of a documentary for the Arirang television series, Dream It in 2010, which was broadcast to eighty-nine million households
internationally. In 2012, she was profiled on the Better TV Show segment, "Women Who Inspire" and ALIST Magazine showcased her in the 2013 Female Leaders Issue. She is the Co-founder/President of Savor Your Senses™, an innovative concert series pairing music with wine, food, and other arts.

Piano Art Show

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Kaya Deckelbaum is a figurative sculptor whose art is a reflection of her Bulgarian, Israeli and Canadian Heritage. Her artistic journey began with clay and then, being introduced to wire-mesh in Israel she was captured by this new medium. Analyzing the multiple shapes and forms of driftwood in British Columbia, Kaya realized that the unique properties of driftwood would be an exciting and synergistic medium for many of her sculptures. Kaya’s art is enhanced by the flexibility, transparency and the shadows of the wire-mesh combined with the beauty of driftwood as well as other natural media. Kaya is a member of the National Association of Women Artists, an associate member of The National Sculpture Society, and a member of the Blue Door Artist Association.

"Piano As Art" Art Show
Featuring Artists Shauna Holliman and Penny Putnam

Faust Harrison Pianos in Manhattan
207 W. 58th St.
New York, NY 10019

Previous Events

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

André-Michel Schub

Pianist André-Michel Schub has been described by The New York Times as “pianistically flawless… a formidable pianist with a fierce integrity.” He has repeatedly performed with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, among them the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Detroit Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw, and the Bournemouth Symphony.
Since 1997 he has been music director of the Virginia Arts Festival Chamber Music Series, planning its chamber music programming and performing on a number of programs each year. He is currently an artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Mr. Schub was the 1981 grand prize winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, 1977 recipient of the Avery Fisher Recital Award, and 1974 winner of the Naumburg International Piano Competition.
Born in France, Mr. Schub came to the United States with his family when he was eight months old; New York City has been his home ever since. He began his piano studies with his mother when he was four and later continued his work with Jascha Zayde. Mr. Schub first attended Princeton University and then transferred to the Curtis Institute, where he studied with Rudolf Serkin from 1970 to 1973. André-Michel Schub’s recordings, for Vox Cum laude, Piano Disc, Musical Heritage Society and CBS Masterworks (now SONY Classical), include works of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart and Liszt, as well as an all-Stravinsky album with Cho-Liang Lin. He is currently on the piano faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Michael Whalen

Michael is a internationally known Yamaha recording artist, producer and arranger. His solo recordings span many genres including: ambient, new age, classical, soundtrack, singer/songwriter, children's music and world music. He is best-known for his spare and melodic solo piano recordings. His new solo piano recording "All The Things I Could Not Say" will be newly released and available for purchase. Michael is a two-time Emmy® award-winning composer who has credits for well-known shows such as "The Oprah Winfrey Show", "Inside Edition", and "Good Morning America", as well network themes he's written for ESPN, Hallmark, ABC Sports, PBS, CBS News, NY1 News, Cinemax, Comcast and many others. He is also an award-winning commercial sound designer with thousands of credits including Apple, BMW, Pepsi and Mercedes. More information: www.michaelwhalen.com

John Moore Ambrosini

Jazz pianist/composer/singer john ambrosini writes, performs, and teaches in the nyc area and has played with a wide variety of jazz, folk, and pop artists, including; Drew Gress, Ratso Harris, Deanna Kirk, Dave Binney, Mike Moreno, Ferenc Nemeth, Massimo Bialcati, William Galison, Brad Mason, Pete Seeger, Joey Arias, and many others.
John’s discography as composer and pianist includes ‘storybook’, ‘soulmaking’, ‘be as you are’, ‘nine stories, and ‘sketches of you’ - which was premiered at Trinity Church in November 2012. Production is underway to record ‘sketches of you’ for jazz quintet and string quartet – expected release in Fall 2013.
John’s recordings can be heard at www.johnambrosini.com as well as www.cdbaby.com/jmoore. There are also many live performances which are viewable on ‘youtube’.
His unique compositions have been heard on radio and television and his song ‘homeless’ was featured and performed at the Kennedy Center by the Harlem School of the Arts Choir.
He studied piano with Fred Hersch, Harold Danko, Kenny Werner, JoAnne Brackeen, and Jean Michel Pilc; and, studied composition, arranging, and orchestration with William Holland.
He also plays guitar and sings with the acoustic trio ‘the taylor brothers’ performing original songs, and creative covers of classic pop and rock songs.
Huntington, Long Island is where John and Lorraine call home; and, they share life with their two children Alexondra and John and their dogs ‘roodles’, ‘scout’, and ‘laika’; and cats ‘mufasa’ and ‘nala’.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Alacorde Piano Trio

The Alacorde Piano Trio, consisting of members Jee Sun Lee, violin, Suji Kim, cello and Jacqueline Schiller-Audi, piano has performed extensively throughout the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Alacorde Piano Trio’s extensive repertoire embraces works from all periods of the genre’s history. Their performances have been called “magical with a level of virtuosity and musicality that is truly impressive.”
Ensemble members are superb soloists in their own right, having enjoyed diversified musical careers that transcend international boundaries and range from solo appearances with various orchestras to chamber music collaborations with such artists as Lawrence Dutton of Emerson Quartet, David Geber, Julia Lichten, Nadine Asin, John Patitucci, as well as members of New York Philharmonic orchestra.
The members of the Alacorde Piano Trio originated from the United States and Korea. Together and as individuals, they have performed in venues such as the Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Roerich Museum, the Bruno Walter Auditorium, Bulgarian Consulate General in NYC, the Donnel Library, Steinway Hall in NYC, College of Saint Elizabeth in NJ, Concordia College in NY, Cecil College in MD, and Temple University in PA.
Members of the Alacorde Piano Trio are on the faculty at College of Saint Elizabeth in NJ.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Elton John (Remote Live)

Elton John, Yamaha and Faust Harrison Pianos are teaming up to bring Elton to White Plains via the miracle of Yamaha’s amazing new “Remote Live” technology. Elton and a seventy piece orchestra will be on stage in Anaheim, CA to celebrate Yamaha’s 125th anniversary. Elton will play a Yamaha grand that will be connected (and perfectly synchronized) via the “cloud” to several other Yamaha grands located in performance venues around the world. One of these pianos will be the red Elton John piano located at Faust Harrison Pianos in White Plains, NY. As Elton plays and sings in California, we’ll see him on the big screen, hear him sing through a marvelous sound system – and watch and hear him play “live” on the Elton John Yamaha.

Our doors will open at 11 PM. We’ll start with a reception and then hear fabulous live opening performances by Matt Beilis and Sarah J. The Elton concert will cap this very special night and end at about 2 AM. Unfortunately, admission must be limited to the first 150 people who respond. So, please don’t delay in letting us know that you’d like to attend.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Composers Concordance Festival: “Evolution – Solos”

This unique, boutique-style concert brings together three of today's piano music stars: Kathleen Supové, Eleonor Sandresky, and Jed Distler. Each a champion with a distinctive approach to piano music interpretation and presentation, these artists will perform their own compositions, as well as works composed specifically for them by Milica Paranosic, Gene Pritsker, and Dan Cooper, among others. Solo sets will alternate with group musicianship in the beautiful intimate salon setting of Faust Harrison Pianos.

About the Pianists:

Kathleen Supové is one of America's most acclaimed and versatile contemporary music pianists. In 2012, she received the special John Cage Award from ASCAP for “the artistry and passion with which she performs, commissions, records, and champions the music of our time.” She has appeared with The Lincoln Center Festival, Other Minds Festival, Bang On a Can Marathon, and in all kinds of venues. Her solo CDs are available on CD Baby and Amazon. Follow her activities at www.supove.com.

Arts Houston described her vision as "captivating and true," composer/pianist Eleonor Sandresky's music has been performed on three continents by ensembles such as Ethel and Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. Her latest commission is for the early music ensemble Parthenia, to be premiered in 2014.  Eleonor is at the same time one of New York's preeminent new music pianists, performing concerts throughout the world with performances of new works by composers from Egberto Gismonte to Philip Glass, with whom she has worked since 1991. Working at the forefront of avant-garde concert-as-theater, Eleonor has reinvented herself as a Choreographic Pianist with her evening-length composition, A Sleeper’s Notebook, that she premiered at the Kitchen in 2003. The depth of her experience as a performer informs her work as a composer in a very deep way, and she mines that experience for the hybrid work that she creates, blending movement, the acoustic and the electronic into one unique art form.

Composer/pianist Jed Distler is artistic director for ComposersCollaborative, inc, and creator of their long-running new music variety show Serial Underground at the Cornelia Street Café. Called “an altogether extraordinary pianist” (Newar Star-Ledger) and “the Downtown Keyboard Magus” in the New Yorker, Jed’s most recent CD on the Musical Concepts label is Meditate with the Masters. He is currently performing a recital program encompassing Thelonious Monk’s complete songs. Formerly on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College where he served as the theater department’s musical director for more the two decades, Jed participated in recent composition teaching residencies at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and Colorado College.

A host and programmer for Q2/New York Public Radio keyboard show Hammered!, Jed also is known for his regular reviews in Gramophone (where he maintains the blog Piano Notes) and Classicstoday.com. He gained notoriety in 2007 for helping uncover the scandal exposing hundreds of recordings fraudulently recited to pianist Joyce Hatto. Jed is an ASCAP member and Yamaha artist. Visit www.composerscollab.org and www.jeddistler.com.

Faust Harrison Pianos celebrates the opening of
its new showroom in Huntington, Long Island.

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Long Island
277 Walt Whitman Rd. (Rt. 110)
Huntington Station, NY 11746

Helene Jeanney & David Oei - Duo piano

She can be heard on recordings with cellist Hai Ye Ni on the Naxos label, and with violinist Yuval Yaron on the Accord label.

David Oei, pianist, was a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic at the age of nine and has since performed with major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore Symphonies. Mr. Oei is the winner of five Interlochen Concerto Competitions and the Concert Artists Guild, WQXR Young Artists, Young Musicians Foundation and Paul Ulanowsky Chamber Pianists Awards. A perennial fixture on the New York City chamber music scene he has made guest appearances with the Audubon Quartet, Claring Chamber Players, Da Capo Chamber Players, New York Philharmonic Ensembles, St. Luke's and Orpheus Chamber Ensembles and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Bob Baldwin Jazz Trio

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Mount Vernon, NY native Bob Baldwin, Jazz Artist, Radio Host and Music Presenter, is an unsung hero when it comes to the Contemporary/Smooth Jazz genre and is on the move. With a vision to take his gift of music to help non-profit organizations who may be in need of help, Bob Baldwin adds Arts Advocate, Educator, and recently Author to his resume.

In 2012 Baldwin is slated to perform with Cynthia Calloway (daughter of the esteemed legend, Mr. Cab Calloway) and Michael Mills for the Feed the Children Program in Phoenix, Arizona. Humanitarian efforts go back to 1986, when he raised the awareness of HIV/AIDS in his hometown. On a production front, he is working with Peak Records, The Best in Contemporary Music to produce a tribute to the great Thom Bell, Philadelphia Songwriter legend and Music Producer, who is known for being one if the creators of the Philadelphia sound for groups like The Stylistics and The Spinners. The project is slated for first Quarter 2012, and includes: Paul Taylor, Russ Freeman, Vivian Green, and new voices Ragan Whiteside, and Elan Trotman.

Baldwin will return to the ArtsWestchester in February and March as co-curator of the NewUrbanJazz Series. The series will feature extraordinary artists from Westchester County, Hiroshi Yamazaki Quartet (Pianist Extraordinaire), Vaneese Thomas (Legendary Vocalist), The Tony Jefferson Quartet (Jazz Vocal Standards), and The John Patitucci Trio (Award-Winning Bassist).

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Beth Levin

Faust Harrison Pianos in NYC
207 W. 58th St.
New York, NY 10019

Pianist Beth Levin, a former child prodigy who made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 12, was subsequently taught and guided by legendary pianists such as Rudolph Serkin, Leonard Shure, and Dorothy Taubman, and played in the presence of such greats as Paul Badura-Skoda, who called her "a pianist of rare abilities". As a concerto soloist, Beth has appeared with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and numerous other symphony orchestras throughout the Americas, working with noted conductors such as Arthur Fiedler, Milton Katims, Joseph Silverstein and Benjamin Zander.

Among Levin's recordings, her renderings of Bach's Goldberg Variations, and Beethoven's Diabelli Variations stand as two of her most crowning achievements. Of her Goldberg Variations, it is said that she plays "as if she is in love with the notes....with always the sense that she is exploring Bach's genius" (Fanfare Magazine). Her interpretation of the Diabelli Variations has been described as "consistently fascinating" (NY Times) and simply "stunning" (Stereophile Magazine).

Levin remains committed to the performance of newly written works, including works written specifically for her by such composers as David Del Tredici and Mahommed Fairouz. She has collaborated with composers such as Henryk Groecki, Louis Karchin, and Andrew Rudin, among others.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Kevin Hays

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Jazz Pianist and composer Kevin Hays has recorded over a dozen CD's as a leader and has been featured on many recordings as a sideman. His recordings have been listed as among the 'Top 40 Jazz Releases of the Year' by Musician Magazine and praised by The New York Times as “a jolt of joy.” In the mid-nineties he began recording for Blue Note Records and made several critically acclaimed CD’s for that label.

Over the past 15 years, Kevin has performed widely with his trio that includes bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Bill Stewart. The trio's first CD in 2001, 'What Survives' (recently re-issued on Hays's own NDS Records) included arrangements of classical works by Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann and Anton Webern along with his own compositions.

In September 2011 Nonesuch Records released 'Modern Music', a new piano duo recording featuring arrangements of some of the great works of the 20th Century. Several of the arrangements had their World Premiere in 2011 at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Hays’s new solo piano CD ‘Variations’ was released in October 2011 on Pirouet Records. The recording features three sets of improvised variations on several original themes along with exquisite variations on a fugue by Robert Schumann.

The Center for Musical Excellence NY
Min Kwon, Director
and the Pianists of the 2012 CME New York Winter Festival and Academy

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

Senior Faculty:
Martin Canin, Pavlina Dokovska, Daniel Epstein, Choongmo Kang, Min Kwon, Jerome Lowenthal, Robert McDonald, Solomon Mikowsky, Andre Michel Schub

Associate Faculty:
Alexander Beridze, Tanya Gabrielian, Yoonjung Han, Miao Hou, Yevgeny Morozov, Soyoun Park, Diyi Tang, Vladimir Valjarevic

Participants:
Daniel Anastasio, Eun Hyang Choi, Peng Cheng He, Sun A Kang, Heegan Lee, Michael Lee, Vutu Nguyen, Si Hyeon Park, Mihwa Ryu, Grace Shin, Aza Torshkoeva, Yuchong Wu, Ming Xie, Yao Yi

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents

Anna Shelest
Friday, January 13th, 8pm

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606

The distinguished career of Anna Shelest includes a performance at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris when she was only eleven years old, and her orchestral debut with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra the following year in a performance of Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto.  Her recent performances include debuts at Alice Tully Hall and Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall in New York City as well as The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. For more information see AnnaShelest.com.

Faust Harrison Pianos Presents


Frederic Chiu

Faust Harrison Pianos & Arts Center in Westchester
214 Central Avenue
White Plains, NY 10606


A frequent guest artist at concert venues in Europe, South America, and throughout the United States, Frederic Chiu is devoted to enhancing the live concert experience for diverse audiences. Chiu has created many innovative programs, often showcasing transcriptions and rarely-programmed repertoire. Also a skilled collaborator, he has performed with many friends and colleagues in Classical music such as Joshua Bell, Pierre Amoyal, Gary Hoffman, the St Lawrence String Quartet; as well as with artists in other genres including the jazz pianist Bob James, writer/storyteller David Gonzalez, actor Brian Bedford, and the clown Buffo. Frederic Chiu has released over 20 CDs, many available on the harmonia mundi usa label, including the complete piano works of Prokofiev, as well as works of Chopin, Liszt, Ravel, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rossini and Grieg. His most recent recordings include the Beethoven/Liszt Symphony No. 5, and the solo piano version of Saint Saens’Carnival of the Animals with David Gonzalez as the narrator of verse penned with today’s young audiences in mind. In addition, he is a frequent presence on popular radio shows such as St. Paul Sunday Morning, Performance Today, and WNYC’s Greene Space. Chiu's educational program Deeper Piano Studies – a philosophic and holistic training program – brings together advanced concert pianists, promising students and piano teachers from around the world for workshops that develop a Body/Mind/Heart approach to piano-playing and music-making. He has taught at the Juilliard School, Indiana University’s Jacob School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the New England Conservatory and the Banff Centre, among others.
Frederic Chiu’s website, www.FredericChiu.com, contains up-to-date information about his upcoming concerts and DPS workshops, as well as links to recordings and videos.

Vassily Primakov & Natalia Lavrova, piano duo

Faust Harrison Pianos
207 W 58th St, NYC
Free Admisison
Limited seating available on a first come, first served basis.

Vassily Primakov: The Four Arensky Suites for Two Pianos Vassily Primakov has been hailed as a pianist of world-class importance. Gramophone wrote that "Primakov's empathy with Chopin's spirit could hardly be more complete," and the American Record Guide stated: "Since Gilels, how many pianists have the right touch"
Vassily Primakov was born in Moscow in 1979. His first piano studies were with his mother, Marina Primakova. He entered Moscow's Central Special Music School at the age of eleven as a pupil of Vera Gornostaeva, and at 17 came to New York to pursue studies at the Juilliard School with the noted pianist, Jerome Lowenthal. At Juilliard Mr. Primakov won the William Petschek Piano Recital Award, which presented his debut recital at Alice Tully Hall, and while at Juilliard, aided by a Susan W. Rose Career Grant, he won both the Silver Medal and the Audience Prize in the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition. Later that year Primakov won First Prize in the 2002 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions. In 2007 he was named the Classical Recording Foundation's "Young Artist of the Year." In 2009, Primakov's Chopin Mazurkas recording was named "Best of the Year" by National Public Radio and that same year he began recording the 27 Mozart piano concertos in Denmark. In November of 2010 the first CD in a series of live performances, "Primakov in Concert, Vol. 1", will be released including works by Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff.

Natalia Lavrova is a highly regarded performer of multi-faceted artistry, whose sincerity of interpretation and beguiling charm upon the stage has won the hearts of audiences across the United States and Europe. Ms. Lavrova enjoys a diverse career upon the international platform, and additionally holds substantial positions in the worlds of arts administration and pedagogy. Solo and orchestral performances have taken Ms. Lavrova throughout her native Russia to Canada, France, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States, to include notable New York venues such as Steinway Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.
Ms. Lavrova has captured top prizes at the New Orleans, Isabel Scionti, Frinna Auerbach, Heidi Hermanns, and Music Academy of the West, Silver Lake, and Senigallia International Piano Competitions. Upon her debut at the Leeds International Piano Competition, Ms. Lavrova was the youngest performer of 1996 admitted to the quarterfinal round.
Natalia Lavrova was born in Moscow in 1981. She entered the preparatory division of the Moscow Conservatory, and was subsequently accepted to The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, as a pupil in the studio of Herbert Stessin. Ms. Lavrova went on to earn her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees at Juilliard, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.

The Golden Key Salon Series at Faust Harrison
features new and distinguished performers, wine receptions, and premiere performances.

Featuring works by Rameau, Bach-Busoni, Mussorgsky, and Brahms

Jerome Lowenthal
Faust Harrison Pianos
207 W 58th St, NYC
Free Admisison
Limited seating available on a first come, first served basis.

Jerome Lowenthal will be performing a program of music by Franz Liszt,
assisted by Carmel Lowenthal. The repertoire includes music from the
pianists' new 3-disc Liszt set on Bridge Records. Selected music from
Liszt's Annees de pelerinage and Christmas Tree Suite.

Jerome Lowenthal: All Liszt Program, CD release concertJerome Lowenthal is an internationally renowned, award-winning pianist, and piano professor at Juilliard. He studied in his native Philadelphia with Olga Samaroff-Stokowski, in New York With William Kapell and Edward Steuermann, and in Paris with Alfred Cartot, meanwhile traveling annually to Los Angeles for coachings with Artur Rubinstein. Mr. Lowenthal made his debut with the New York Philharmonic playing Bartok's Concerto no. 2 in 1963. He has since performed worldwide from the Aleutians to Zagreb. Conductors with whom he has appeared as a soloist include Barenboim, Ozawa, Tilson Thomas, Temirkanov, and Slatkin, as well as such giants of the past as Leonard Bernstein, Eugene Ormandy, Pierre Monteux and Leopold Stokowski. He has played sonatas with Itzhak Perlman, piano duos with Ronit Amir (his late wife), Carmel Lowenthal (his daughter), and Ursula Oppens, as well as quintets with the Lark, Avalon and Shanghai Quartets. He has recently recorded the Beethoven Fourth Concerto with cadenzas by eleven different composers. His other recordings include concerti by Tschaikovsky and Liszt, solo works by Sinding and Bartok, and chamber music by Arensky and Taneyev.

Simon Mulligan
Including Schumann, Brahms and Chopin

Faust Harrison Pianos
207 W 58th St, NYC
Admission $20

British pianist Simon Mulligan celebrated his début aged 19 at London's Barbican Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; a month later he recorded his first compact disc under the direction of Yehudi Menuhin. This led to a seven-year collaboration and friendship, culminating in what was to be Lord Menuhin's final concert in Dusseldorf, March 1999.
Described by The Times of London as 'the most abundantly gifted of pianists', Simon performs and records internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. His most recent recordings include a disc of Beethoven sonatas and a live recital in Switzerland for Alexis Weissenberg’s Birthday. His first solo album for Sony Classical, “Piano” won great acclaim throughout Europe, South America and the Far East, and featured in various television, radio, and Internet campaigns. He has made over twenty recordings for compact disc, including performances of Martinu's Triple Concerto (conducted by Menuhin), Rozsa’s Spellbound concerto with the BBC Symphony conducted by Slatkin, Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition, his own Suite for Piano and Orchestra, and the Nocturnes of Chopin. He has made four discs for the Nimbus label, including a première recording of music by pianist Alexis Weissenberg.
Simon’s performances with orchestra include the Royal Philharmonic, BBC Symphony under Slatkin, Warsaw Sinfonia (Menuhin), Brno Philharmonic (Menuhin), Modesto Symphony (Lockington), Reading Symphony (Rothstein), Hong Kong Philharmonic (Atherton), the Hallé, Bournemouth Sinfonia, Malaysian Philharmonic and English Symphony (Boughton).
Simon’s love of improvisation has led to articles in numerous music publications, including Downbeat, JazzTimes, International Pianist and Gramophone magazines.
A Music Scholar of St Paul's School, London, Simon studied under Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music and Jaques Rouvier in Paris; he also studied Beethoven at the personal invitation of Alfred Brendel.
He was also the recipient of a scholarship to the International Piano Academy on Italy’s Lake Como. There, his mentors included Charles Rosen, Alexis Weissenberg and Murray Perahia. In 2007, Simon was one of the youngest recipients to be awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music for his musical achievements.

Faust Harrison Pianos
205 West 58th Street ~ New York, NY 10019
Admission: $20, adults; $10, students and seniors (CASH ONLY)

Lincoln Mayorga & Steven Richman perform at Faust Harrison Pianos

Come to Faust Harrison on Monday evening, May 17, 7 PM, for Harmonia Mundi Recordings' press gathering, announcing the release of "Gershwin by Grofe (Original orchestrations and arrangements), a new recording by the Harmonie Ensemble of New York, conducted by Steven Richman, featuring Lincoln Mayorga, piano, and Al Gallodoro, clarinet and saxophone: Lincoln Mayorga will perform songs and solo piano pieces by the composer and his pianist-colleagues in New York, and conductor Steven Richman will talk about the working relationship between George Gershwin and Ferde Grofe which is explored in this new CD.

Abbey Simon performs at Faust Harrison Pianos

A New Yorker by birth, Abbey Simon received part of his academic education and his major musical training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was accepted by Joseph Hofmann when he was eleven years old. Shortly after his graduation from Curtis, he won the coveted Walter W. Naumberg award, which carries with it a Town Hall debut in New York City. The debut recital was followed by recitals in new York’s Carnegie Hall and extensive tours throughout the United States and Canada, which were interrupted only for enlistment in the United States army during the war.

Abbey Simon has been heard with most of the great orchestras of Europe under such eminent conductors as Sir John Barbirolli, Joseph Krips, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Walter Susskind, Colin Davis, Antal Dorati, Rafael Kubelik, George Szell, Wilhelm von Otterloo, Dean Dixon, Massimo Freccia, Eduard van Beinum, Carlo Maria Giulini, Ozawa, Mehta, Leinsdorf.